The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1887-05-12
KENTUCKY DEMOCRACY.
Platform Adopted by the Louis
VILE Convention, May, 1887.


The platform was written and drawn
up by Hons. John G. Carlisle and Henry
Watterson. That part which is of ma
tional interest and which was adopted is
as follows:
We declare our confidence in the in.
tegrity and conscientious devotion of
President Grover Cleveland, and con
graduate the country and party upon the
accession OF the democratic administra-
ton, which is national, economical and
clean. We particularly applaud the
president for the fidelity and courage with
which he has protected the treasury from
pillage by his exercise of the veto power.
We favor home civil service reform, by
which we mean enforcement of faithful
performance of duty by her sons ap-
pointed to Office of all public duties en-
trusted to them, and to this end,
as we'll as to the maintenance of
the spirit of our representative
form of government, we de-
mand the strlctest measure of
personal and party responsibility, and are
opposed to the substitution in the room
of this of a life tenure civil pension list and
all other appendices of bureaucratic sys-
tenn foreign to the genius of our institu-
tions and people. We declare the honest
money of the constitution good enough
for the people, as expressed in gold and
silver and paper convertible into coin on
demand, and opposed to all sumptuary
laws. We contend that there are already
on our statute books sufficient general
laws having local application to protect
the public morals without infringing upon
private rights. We sympathize most ear
nestly with the people OF Ire
land in their struggle Tor
local self-government, and we unite with
the friends of liberal progress in all parts
of the world in denouncing the coerclve
measures now pending in the British parlia
ment as a monstrous crime against
brave, generous and long suffering people
and destruction to human freedom abhor'
emit to the spirit of liberty in every land
Welea with alarm the growing tendency
among certain class of citizens for alo
and bounty of the federal government
and as an incident of this tendency to en-
large the power granted and to muitipi!
the powers now contemplated by the con
stitution; and we reassert the time non
ored democratic doctrine that "all powers
not delegated to the United States are re
served to the states respectively, or to the
people," We denounce the present wal
tariff. laid to confuse as well as to harass
the people, as a masterpiece of injustice
inequality and false pretense. 1t has
been maintained by the selfish and talst
theory of protection, which robs the many
to enrich the few. 1t has piled up in the
national treasury surplus which menace'
the prosperity of all classes and all indus
, tries. We demand the immediate reduc
/, ton of this war tariff, not merely as al
act of redress to the people promised b,
all parties, but as the only safe and JUS
method of reducing the surplus, and Il
O making such reduction we demand turtle
6 that the taxes shall first be abolished o
r lowered upon the necessities OF life. Ant
finally we reassert the constitutional an
democratic doctrine that taxes should b
levied exclusively for public purposes an
= limited to the requirements of govern
ment, economically administered.
, Hon. Preston Taulbee objected to tn
clause relating to President Clevelan
vetoing the pension bill, and pending dis
cussion the convention adjourned for tn
O day.